 |
| Photo by WhisperToMe |
Yesterday we noted that Hearst, the private company that owns the Houston Chronicle, was threatening to shut down the San Francisco Chronicle if union concessions weren’t forthcoming.
Today brings word of major cuts at another Hearst paper, the San Antonio Express, and ominous rumblings about Houston.
Hearst is cutting 75 newsroom jobs in San Antonio. “As a first step to securing our future and continuing to serve the community, we are undergoing a fundamental and painful restructuring of the newsroom staff,” editor Robert Rivard told employees in a memo. “We will have fewer departments and fewer managers, and yes, fewer of every class of journalist.”
Sucks.
Then there was this, at the end of Rivard’s memo: “Most of you read yesterday’s news
regarding the San Francisco Chronicle and recently became aware of
pending staff cuts at the Houston Chronicle. Our intention is to get
through these difficult days and work to remain an indispensible source
of news and information through the recession and beyond.“
Everyone’s walking on eggshells these days at 801 Texas (and hell, in every newsroom in the country, for that matter). Best of luck to them.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.